WASHINGTON — Preliminary evidence indicates that the COVID 19 pandemic has negatively affected the well-being of women in academic STEMM fields in a range of areas, including productivity, work-life boundary control, networking and community building, and mental well-being, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

“Leading up to the COVID 19 pandemic, the representation of women has slowly increased in STEMM fields, but such progress is fragile and prone to setbacks, especially in times of crisis,” said Eve Higginbotham, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and inaugural vice dean for inclusion, diversity, and equity at Penn Medicine, professor of ophthalmology, and senior fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.  “Emerging evidence suggests that the disruptions caused by the pandemic endanger the engagement and retention of women in these fields — and may roll back some of the achievement gains made by women to date.”

The study committee conducted its work during 2020, and data on the pandemic’s impacts on women in STEMM fields were limited. The committee commissioned five research papers that examined the available evidence on various impacts; one of the papers includes the results of a survey of around 900 women STEMM faculty, conducted in October 2020. 

Among the report’s findings:

• The COVID 19 pandemic has intensified complications related to work-life boundaries that largely affect women. Preliminary evidence suggests women in academic STEMM are experiencing increased workload, decreased productivity, changes in interactions, and difficulties from remote work caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and associated disruptions. Combined with the gendered division of nonemployment labor that affected women before the pandemic, these challenges have been amplified by a lack of access to childcare, children’s heightened behavioral and academic needs, increased eldercare demands, and personal physical and mental health concerns. These are particularly salient for women who are parents or caregivers.
• Some research indicates that the publications authored by women in specific STEMM disciplines, such as earth and space sciences, remained consistent during 2020.  However, several other preliminary measures of productivity — such as self-reported research and hours worked, authorship status, and attendance at conferences — suggest that COVID 19 disruptions have disproportionately affected women compared with men.
• Technology has allowed for the continuation of information exchange and many collaborations, and in some cases it has facilitated increased participation of women and underrepresented groups. However, preliminary evidence also shows gendered impacts on science and scientific collaborations during 2020 — impacts that arise because some collaborations cannot be facilitated online, and other challenges such as finding time in the day to engage synchronously, which presents a greater burden for women, who manage the larger share of caregiving and other household duties, especially during the first several months of the pandemic.
• During the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, many quickly made institutional decisions — including those related to layoffs and furloughs — greatly affected contingent and nontenured faculty members, positions that are more often occupied by women and People of Color. In 2020, these financial decisions already had negative short-term effects and may portend long-term consequences.
• Social support, which is particularly important during stressful situations, is jeopardized by the physical isolation and restricted social interactions that have been imposed during the COVID 19 pandemic. For women who are already isolated within their specific fields or disciplines, additional social isolation may be an important contributor to added stress.
• Many administrative decisions regarding institutional supports made during 2020, such as work-from-home provisions and extensions on evaluations or deliverables, are likely to exacerbate underlying gender-based inequalities in academic advancement rather than being gender neutral as assumed. For example, while colleges and universities have offered extensions for those on the tenure track, and federal and private funders have offered extensions on funding and grants, these changes do not necessarily align with the needs expressed by women, such as the need for flexibility to contend with limited availability of caregiving and requests for a reduced workload, nor do they generally benefit women faculty who are not on the tenure track. Further, provision of institutional support may be insufficient if it does not account for the challenges faced by those with multiple marginalized identities.

While one-year extensions and grant extension flexibility are helpful, the report says, the differential effects for women may not be sufficient to address the added caregiver status and home responsibilities that affect work-life integration.

Further research is still needed to understand all of the potential effects of the pandemic and its long-term implications for women in STEMM and to identify ways to support the full participation of women going forward, says the report, which identifies key areas for future study.

For example, the report recommends research on the short- and long-term effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on the career trajectories, job stability, and leadership roles of women, particularly Women of Color.  And it recommends examining insights gained about work-life boundaries during the COVID 19 pandemic in order to inform how institutions develop and implement supportive resources — for example, workload reductions, onsite childcare, and flexible working options.

“It is my hope that this report will not only advance the discussion about how best to enhance the representation and vitality of academic women in STEMM, but create an awareness about the adverse impact that these unprecedented times will have on women going forward,” said Higginbotham. “It is also my hope that the research questions posed by this committee will translate into enduring solutions that will strengthen institutional interventions to weather future disruptions.”

The study — undertaken by the Committee on Investigating the Potential Impacts of COVID‑19 on the Careers of Women in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine — was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The National Academies are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

Contact:
Sara Frueh, Senior Media Relations Officer
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202-334-2138; news@nas.edu